Refund Checks to be Issued to North Carolinians Affected by FHTM Pyramid Scheme

NORTH CAROLINA -- A total of $445,000 in refund checks will be mailed to more than 33,000 North Carolinians who lost money to a pyramid scheme.  

Attorney General Roy Cooper's Office said the checks are being mailed by the Federal Trade Commission to consumers who bought into the Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing scheme but lost money.

Nationwide, more than 280,000 checks totaling about $3.7 million are going to victims of the scheme.

FHTM operated a pyramid scheme that recruited more than 350,000 participants and said they could earn thousands of dollars a year by buying into the operation to sell satellite television services and other goods.